Terms of Use

General

Gotcha.com is the official website for Gotcha, a wholly owned subsidiary and division of Perry Ellis International, Inc. We ask that you abide by the terms and conditions of use that follow. Please read them carefully, because your use of the gotcha.com web site (the "Site") constitutes your agreement to be bound by these terms. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms and conditions of use, you may not access or otherwise use this Site. We reserve the right to revise these terms and conditions from time to time. When we make changes, we will post them here. You may wish to check this section from time to time, because your use of the Site following any changes indicates your agreement to be bound by those modifications.

Site Usage Policy

A) Security

You are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security measures on the Site, including, without limitation:

Using a false password or one belonging to another user or accessing data not intended for the user or logging into a server or account which such user is not authorized to access;

Disclosing a password or permitting a third party to use a password or failing to notify us if a password is compromised

Attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization;

Attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of overloading, "flooding", "mail bombing" or "crashing";

Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting; or

Hijacking all or any part of the Site content, deleting or changing any Site content, deploying pop-up messages or advertising, running or displaying this Site or any Site content in frames or through similar means on another Site, or linking to the Site or any page within the Site, without our specific written permission.

(B) General Rules

You agree to use the Site only for lawful purposes and only for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may not use the Site to transmit, post, download, distribute, copy, display publicly, store or destroy material (a) in violation of any applicable law or regulation, (b) in a manner that will infringe the copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of others or violate the privacy or publicity or other personal rights of others, or (c) that is libelous, obscene, offensive, threatening, defamatory, abusive or hateful.

(C) Violations

We have absolute discretion to determine if any use violates these rules, and to act as we deem appropriate in the event of any violation. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. We will investigate occurrences which may involve such violations and may involve, cooperate with, and make disclosures to, law enforcement authorities in identifying and prosecuting users who are involved in such violations.

Site Contents

Unless otherwise noted, all materials, including images, illustrations, designs, icons, photographs, video clips, and written and other materials that appear as part of the Site (collectively, the "Contents") are property owned, controlled, licensed or used with permission by Gotcha, and/or its parent company, and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, "PEI"). The Site as a whole and its Contents are protected by copyright, trademark, trade dress and other laws and all worldwide right, title and interest in and to the Site and its Contents are owned by PEI or used with permission. gotcha.com and all other trademarks appearing on this Site are trademarks of PEI or are licensed or used with permission of the owner by PEI.

The Contents of the Site, and the Site as a whole, are intended solely for personal, non-commercial use by the users of the Site and may not be used except as permitted in these Terms of Use. You may download or copy the Contents and other downloadable materials displayed on the Site for your personal use only. No right, title or interest in any downloaded materials or software is transferred to you as a result of any such downloading or copying. You may not reproduce (except as noted above), publish, transmit, distribute, publicly display, modify, create derivative works from, sell or participate in any sale of, or exploit in any way, in whole or in part, any of the Contents, the Site, or any related software. Nothing contained on this Site grants or should be construed as granting, any license or right to use, implied or otherwise, any trademarks, trade names, service marks, trade dress, copyrighted or other proprietary material displayed on this Site without the prior written consent of PEI or the owner of such material.

Product Information

Gotcha products displayed on the Site are generally available in most cases in select department and/or company-owned stores in the United States and select foreign markets while supplies last. In some cases, merchandise displayed on the Site may not be available in stores and Gotcha makes no representations or warranties that any of the products or services displayed on the Site will be available at any time or location. Any prices displayed on the Site are quoted in U.S. Dollars and represent manufacturer's suggested resale prices for the United States.

Colors

We have made every effort to display as accurately as possible the colors of our products that appear on the Site. However, as the actual colors you see will depend on your monitor, we cannot guarantee that your monitor's display of any color will be accurate.

User Comments, Feedback, Postcards and Other Submissions

All comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, and other submissions disclosed, submitted or offered to PEI on or by this Site or otherwise disclosed, submitted or offered in connection with your use of this Site (collectively, "Comments") shall be and remain PEI's property. Such disclosure, submission or offer of any Comments shall constitute an assignment to PEI of all worldwide right, title and interest in all copyrights and other intellectual properties in the Comments. PEI is and shall be under no obligation (1) to maintain any Comments in confidence; (2) to pay to user any compensation for any Comments; or (3) to respond to any user Comments.

You agree that none of the Comments submitted by you to the Site will violate any right of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary right(s). You further agree that none of the Comments submitted by you to the Site will be or contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive or obscene material. You are and shall remain solely responsible for the content of any Comments you make.

You agree that PEI may send electronic mail to you for the purpose of advising you of changes or additions to this Site, about any of PEI's products or services, or for such other purpose(s) as PEI deems appropriate. You agree that PEI may use and/or disclose information consistent with our Privacy Policy.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold PEI harmless from and against any and all claims, damages, costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees, arising from or related to your use of the Site.

Links to Other Web Sites

To the extent that this Site contains links to outside services and resources, including other websites, the availability and content of which PEI does not own, operate or control, any concerns regarding any such service or resource, or any link thereto, should be directed to the particular outside service, resource or website. Any such links are provided solely as a convenience to you. If you click on these links, you will leave this Site. PEI makes no representations or warranties concerning and is not responsible for the content, information or other material on or accessed from any other websites that are not owned, operated or controlled by PEI.

Disclaimer

PEI ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES TO, INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE OR VIRUSES THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER OR TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT ARISING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF THIS SITE AND ITS CONTENTS. IN NO EVENT SHALL PEI OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATED ENTITIES OR SUPPLIERS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, ATTORNEYS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF PEI HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, WHETHER IN AN ACTION, UNDER CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR ANY OTHER THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, INABILITY TO USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE INFORMATION, SERVICES, PRODUCTS AND MATERIALS AVAILABLE FROM THE SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OR THE EXISTENCE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Inaccuracy Disclaimer

From time to time there may be information on this Site that contains typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions, including those that may relate to product descriptions, pricing, and availability. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update information at any time without prior notice. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

Miscellaneous

Unless otherwise specified and except to the extent Gotcha products are offered for sale in the United States through this Site, this Site and the Contents thereof are displayed solely for the purpose of promoting Gotcha products and services available in the United States and select foreign markets. This Site is controlled and operated by PEI from its offices in Miami, Florida.

This Agreement shall be governed by, construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, without giving effect to any conflict of law provisions. Any dispute arising under this Agreement shall be resolved exclusively by an appropriate federal or state court sitting in the State of Florida.

Third-Party Trademarks

Third-party trade names, product names and logos, contained in this website may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Notices for Reporting and Making Claims of Copyright Infringement

PEI will investigate notices of copyright infringement and take appropriate actions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2) ("DMCA"). Pursuant to the DMCA, written notification of claimed copyright infringement must be submitted to the following designated agent for this website:

This Agreement is effective unless and until terminated by either you or PEI. You may terminate this Agreement at any time. PEI also may terminate this Agreement at any time and may do so immediately without notice, and accordingly deny you access to the Site, if in PEI's sole discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of this Agreement.

California Transparency in Supply Chains Act

California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657)

On January 1, 2012, the state of California enacted the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act (SB 657). This Act seeks to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from product supply chains. Perry Ellis International, Inc. has a Vendor Code of Conduct that strictly prohibits the use of forced or compulsory labor of any kind, including prison labor, bonded labor, indentured labor, slavery and human trafficking. To address the regulations of the Act, we are taking the following steps:

Verification:

Perry Ellis International, Inc. ("PEI") is committed to fair labor practices within our supply chain. Part of PEI’s robust Social Compliance program is to assess and verify the risk of slavery and human trafficking within its supply chain. PEI conducts its risk assessment by country by reviewing the US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report located at http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/index.htm which is issued on an annual basis, wherein country-specific risk level assignments are based on a three-tier ranking of the local government's compliance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Risk assessment is performed internally by PEI. All direct suppliers are reviewed by PEI’s Social Compliance Department prior to production placement.

Audit:

PEI conducts regular audits of its direct suppliers. PEI has established a Vendor Code of Conduct which is issued to its direct suppliers. Direct suppliers are evaluated on their compliance of our code through announced and unannounced audits conducted by PEI's internal auditors and third party audit providers.

Certification:

As a condition of doing business, PEI requires its direct suppliers to certify in writing via the PEI Master Supply Agreement that they comply with all applicable laws within the country of business including those regarding slavery and human trafficking as well as PEI's Vendor Code of Conduct.

Accountability:

PEI maintains and enforces internal accountability procedures for PEI employees and compliance by direct suppliers regarding company standards on slavery and human trafficking. In the case of non-compliance PEI reserves the right to investigate the situation and develop a best possible strategy for resolution. If non-compliance continues unresolved within a timely manner, PEI may terminate the business relationship.

Training:

PEI conducts internal training on its Vendor Code of Conduct to ensure the necessary participants in the supply chain management are knowledgeable and aware of the issues and concerns surrounding the supply chain, involving human trafficking and slavery including mitigating risks within the supply chain of products sourced by PEI. PEI also encourages employees involved in PEI's supply chain to participate in external training programs and seminars on social compliance issues.

Privacy Policy

This is the Privacy Policy ("policy") for the website hosted at benhogan.com ("site"). The site is ultimately operated by or on behalf of a wholly owned subsidiary and division of Perry Ellis International, Inc. ("we", "our" or "us"). We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy should be read in conjunction with our Cookies Policy available at benhogan.com/CookiePolicy.asp.

Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

By engaging with our site you acknowledge you have read and understood this policy.

For the purposes of European Economic Area data protection law, (the "Data Protection Law"), the data controller is: Perry Ellis International, Inc. (PrivacyConcerns@pery.com).

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

We will collect and process the following personal data from you:

Information you give us

This is information about you that you give us directly when you interact with us: This is information about you that you give us by filling in forms on our site or by corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. It includes information you provide when you register to use our site, subscribe to our service, search for a product, place an order on our site, participate in discussion boards, sweepstakes, contests or other social media functions on or via our site, enter a competition, promotion or survey, submit a query, and when you report a problem with our site.

The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address and phone number, financial and credit card information, personal description and photograph, login and password details.

It may also include employment details if you send us a CV, resumé or other details of your employment history in connection with an advertised job vacancy or a general enquiry regarding employment opportunities with us.

Information we collect about you from your use of our site

We will automatically collect information from you each time you visit our site. This includes:

Technical information: Technical information may include the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet, your login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform.

Information about your visit: Information about your visit may include the full Uniform Resource Locators (URL), clickstream to, through and from our site (including date and time), products you viewed or searched for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), methods used to browse away from the page, and any phone number used to call our customer service number or social media handle used to connect with our customer service team.

Location data: Location data can include information we collect through the site as to your real time location to provide location services where requested or agreed to by you in order to allow check-in, deliver content, advertising or other services that are dependent on knowing where you are. This information may also be collected in combination with an identifier associated with your device to enable us to recognise your mobile browser or device when you return to the site.

Delivery of location: Delivery of location services will involve reference to one or more of the following: (a) the coordinates (latitude/longitude) of your location; (b) look-up of your country of location by reference to your IP address against public sources; and/or (c) your Identifier for Advertisers (IFA) code for your Apple device, or the Android ID for your Android device, or a similar device identifier. See our Cookies Policy for more information on the use of cookies and device identifiers on the site.

Information we receive from other sources

This is information we receive about you:

If you use any of the other websites or apps we operate or the other services we provide: In this case we will have informed you when we collected that data if we intend to share your data internally and combine it with data collected on this site. We will also have told you for what purpose we will share and combine your data.

From third parties we work closely with: We are working closely with third parties (including, for example, business partners, sub-contractors in technical, payment and delivery services, advertising networks, analytics providers, and search information providers). We will notify you when we receive information about you from them and the purposes for which we intend to use that information.

HOW DO WE USE THIS INFORMATION?

We use information held about you in the following ways:

Information you give to us:

We will use this information to:

Take steps in order to enter into any contract or carry out our obligations arising from any contract entered into between you and us including

to enhance and personalize your shopping experience and to communicate with you for marketing and promotional purposes via targeted postal pieces, phone messages, or personalized emails;

administering your account with us;

verifying and carrying out financial transactions in relation to payments you make online;

notifying you about changes to our service.

Provide you with information about goods or services we feel may interest you, if you have given your consent to receiving marketing material from us at the point we collected your information, where required by law or otherwise in our legitimate interests provided these interests do not override your right to object to such communications. See 'How do you unsubscribe from promotional updates and communications?'.

Ensure in our legitimate interests that:

content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer; and

we provide you with the information, products and services that you request from us.

Information we collect about you from your use of our site

We will use this information in our legitimate interests, where we have considered these are not overridden by your rights:

To administer our site and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research, statistical and survey purposes.

To keep our site safe and secure.

For measuring or understanding the effectiveness of advertising we serve to you and others, and to deliver relevant advertising to you.

To improve our site to ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.

To allow you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so.

Information we receive from other sources

We may combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you in our legitimate interests (where we have considered that these are not overridden by your rights). We will use this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).

HOW DO YOU UNSUBSCRIBE FROM PROMOTIONAL UPDATES AND COMMUNICATIONS?

Where permitted in our legitimate interest or with your prior consent where required by law, we will use your personal information for marketing analysis and to provide you with promotional update communications by email about our products/services.

You can object to marketing at any time by checking and updating your contact details within your account, or selecting the "unsubscribe" link at the end of all our marketing and promotional update communications to you, or by sending us an email to PrivacyConcerns@pery.com.

We honor every request to unsubscribe from receipt of promotional emails within ten (10) days of receiving the request. As such, in compliance with the applicable legal obligations, we may provide to our advertising partners the email address of anyone who has submitted to us an unsubscribe request, provided such company agrees not to disclose or use such email address for any other purpose than honoring your request to not receive our promotional emails.

WHERE DO WE STORE YOUR INFORMATION?

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA") that may not be subject to equivalent Data Protection Law.

Where your information is transferred outside the EEA, we will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is subject to appropriate safeguards, such as relying on a recognised legal adequacy mechanism, and that it is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

We may transfer your personal data outside the EEA:

In order to store it.

In order to enable us to provide goods or services to you and fulfil our contract with you. This includes order fulfilment, processing of payment details, and the provision of support services.

Where we are legally required to do so.

In order to facilitate the operation of our group of businesses, where it is in our legitimate interests and we have concluded these are not overridden by your rights.

HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION?

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. All information input by you and transmitted to our site when you place an order or provide information is protected by password and by an encryption using Transport Layer Security ("TLS"). TLS encrypts your order and information before it is transmitted to us to avoid the decoding of your information by anyone other than us.

Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our site, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share a password with anyone.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our site. Any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to external sites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of such sites.

DO WE DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO OTHERS?

We may give your information to:

Any member of our group, which means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and its subsidiaries, who support our processing of personal data under this policy. If any of these parties are using your information for direct marketing purposes, we will only transfer the information to them for that purpose with your prior consent.

Organisations who process your personal data on our behalf and in accordance with our instructions and the Data Protection Law. This includes in supporting the services we offer through the site, in particular those providing website and data hosting services, fulfilling your transactions and customer service inquiries, updating your customer information record in our database, deploying our promotional offers to you, fulfilling your request to unsubscribe from our email, providing fulfilment services, distributing any communications we send, supporting or updating marketing lists, facilitating feedback on our services and providing IT support services from time to time. These organisations (which may include third party suppliers, agents, sub-contractors and/or other companies in our group) will only use your information to the extent necessary to perform their support functions.

Analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site and subject to our Cookies Policy (this will not identify you as an individual).

Business partners who jointly with us provide services to you and with whom we have entered into agreements in relation to the processing of your personal data, in particular to assist us in communicating, promoting and selling our products and services.

Credit reference agencies for the purpose of assessing your credit score where this is a condition of us entering into a contract with you.

In the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we will disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets subject to the terms of this privacy policy.

If we or substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by us about our customers will be one of the transferred assets.

If we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our terms of supply terms and other agreements with you; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction and to prevent cybercrime.

HOW DO WE PROTECT A CHILD'S PRIVACY?

Protecting the safety of children when they use the Internet is important to us.

The site is intended for use only by persons who are at least 16 years of age or any applicable statutory age of majority (whichever is higher).

By using the site, you confirm to us that you meet this requirement. If you are under the age of 16 or any applicable statutory age of majority (whichever is higher), you confirm you have received permission from your parent or guardian before using this site or sending us personal information.

In keeping with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, we will never knowingly request personal information from any person under the age of 13, without first seeking prior verifiable parental consent. If you are under the age of 13 your parent or guardian must consent on your behalf where we ask for consent in relation to the use of your information. If we become aware that a user of our website is under the age of 13 and has provided an online registration without prior verifiable parental consent, we will remove that child's information from our files.

DO WE USE "COOKIES"?

The description of how we use cookies and other similar technologies on our website is set out in our Cookies Policy available at benhogan.com/CookiePolicy.asp. This policy should be read in conjunction with our Cookies Policy.

DO WE ALLOW USER GENERATED CONTENT?

We may, from time to time, make chat rooms, message boards, news groups, social media, and/or other public forums available to its users. Any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when using these and avoid posting any personal information.

HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

We retain personal data for as long as you have an account with us in order to meet our contractual obligations to you and for seven years after that to identify any issues and resolve any legal proceedings OR insert time period for which personal information is stored or, where that is not possible, the criteria used to determine the period. We may also retain aggregate information beyond this time for research purposes and to help us develop and improve our services. You cannot be identified from aggregate information retained or used for these purposes.

WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

You have the right under certain circumstances:

to be provided with a copy of your personal data held by us;

to request the rectification or erasure of your personal data held by us;

to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data (while we verify or investigate your concerns with this information, for example);

to object to the further processing of your personal data, including the right to object to marketing (as mentioned in 'Our promotional updates and communications' section;

to request that your provided personal data be moved to a third party.

You may opt out at any time from allowing further access by us to your location data by un-installing the App. You may use the standard un-install processes as may be available for your mobile device

Your right to withdraw consent:

Where the processing of your personal information by us is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent without detriment at any time by contacting us. You can also change your marketing preferences at any time as described in 'Our promotional updates and communications' section.;

You can also exercise the rights listed above at any time by contacting us at PrivacyConcerns@pery.com.

If your request or concern is not satisfactorily resolved by us, you may approach your local data protection authority, (see http://ec.europa.eu/justice/article-29/structure/data-protection-authorities/index_en.htm). The Information Commissioner is the supervisory authority in the UK and can provide further information about your rights and our obligations in relation to your personal data, as well as deal with any complaints that you have about our processing of your personal data.

CAN WE CHANGE THIS PRIVACY POLICY?

Any changes we make to our privacy policy in future will be posted on this page and, in relation to substantive changes, will be notified to you by e-mail. This policy was last updated on May 22, 2018.

DO WE HAVE LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES?

There may be links on our website to the web sites of others. When you click onto one of these links, you are leaving the our website and accessing another party's website. These other web sites are not under our control and may collect Personal Information from you. Our privacy policy does not address the information, privacy and security practices or policies of any other website. For more information, please read our Ben Hogan General Terms and Conditions.

We collect various types of personal information about you both online and offline during the course of our customer relationship. Under California law, if you are a resident of California, you may make a written request to us about how we have shared your information with third parties for their direct marketing purposes. In response to your written request, we are allowed to provide you with a notice describing the cost-free means to opt-out of our sharing your information with third parties with whom we do not share the same brand name, if the third party will use it for their direct marketing purposes.

If you would like to exercise your rights under California law, please send your written request to the email address or postal address below. Your written request must include your postal address so that we may provide you with our notice and third party direct marketing opt-out form. We will provide you with this form within thirty (30) days of receiving your written request.

CONTACT US

Questions, comments and requests regarding this privacy policy are welcomed and should be addressed to:

Welcome toGotcha

Note From the Co-Founder: Michael Tomson

In the mid to late 80s, there was a sign in the design studios at Gotcha which read: 'We aren't just selling clothes, we're selling culture.'

This was pre-social media and the concept of followers, before the whole idea of brands telling stories through their products. Our mission always existed in a larger context with a bigger purpose. That's what has always separated Gotcha from the rest.

In our eyes, we were not just making boardshorts and t-shirts. We were creating a look that embodies a lifestyle, a language, an attitude, a music sensibility; Gotcha's look would disrupt fashion houses in Milan, Paris, and Tokyo, taking surf style into a global arena.

And it worked. Gotcha catapulted the surf industry into a new realm, gave it respect and opened up the perception of surf as a legitimate category in apparel. Suddenly every major department store in the US had to have surf product on their shelves. Trade shows turned into near riots with every retailer trying to buy surf product...it was crazy. Did we expect it? No. Did we plan for it? Hell no! We were just having fun, we were making the clothes we thought were cool and taking it from there.

Gotcha grew, in a short 10 year period, to become one of the largest and most important surf brands in the world. And we did it through innovative design and (extremely) bold advertising. The persona we created for the brand was totally unique and modern, unlike anything in the market before us. Which is why we were recognized with numerous awards for design and art direction. We created product categories that surf shops had never carried before.

It was an extremely creative period, and I feel privileged to have been a part of it.

Main Board

CATALOG HISTORY

During its formative years, Gotcha's innovative product and strong graphic design drove the brand forward. In particular, the brand's approach to catalog design was unique: far more concept driven than product driven, far more focused on aesthetic execution than whether style numbers, prices and delivery dates were correct. Catalogs were the equivalent of today's 5 minute clips, acting as brand platforms: ambitious, edgy, modern, and in some cases, definitely weird.

As Dave Gilovich, a former editor of Surfing Magazine, once said: "In the early days when I went to Laguna to see Gotcha I always had a sense I was walking into the future...that this was the new direction."

Gotcha's first catalog, New Wave, came out in spring of 1985. Michael Tomson explained: "We called it New Wave because new wave music was happening...Depeche Mode, the Cars, New Order...we were listening to KROQ a radio station out of Pasadena and we were working with Jay Vigon and Rick Sereini, two art directors out of LA with a modern sensibility. Of course we had no budget to do something grand, so they suggested doing it diecut in an angular shape. It looked cool, didn't cost that much, we went for it."

The Waterborn catalog, produced in 1987, raised the bar for creative ambition. The location - inside Haleakala crater on Maui - was extremely challenging. It's a dormant volcano and its illegal to drive down into it. The goal was to capture an eerie moonscape effect as a backdrop to the narrative of a lost tribe called the Chagots (the Gotcha word scrambled), who were obsessed with the clothes. The experience was at times completely surreal, but the results were outstanding.

By the time Spring 1988 rolled around, we were ready for something straightup product driven. We used saturated color in a large 22" x 8" format with bold type on the cover stacked vertically: EARTH LIFE ANIMAL POWER. Very impactful, very product driven and very successful in communicating the identity of the clothes.

Many of the print ads are remarkable as much for their ingenious solutions to unsolvable problems as for their strategic creativity in positioning the brand in the market. For example, the concept of the Airbrush Campaign originally had nothing to do with airbrushing. We had an ad shoot set up, with a deadline to deliver material to 2 national magazines in 5 days. And we had no clothes. So we had to facsimilize them, and make the whole thing look good enough to be seen as though this was what we intended to do in the first place. Pivot. Adapt. Keep your cool.

The Breakout Campaign of 1981 represented Gotcha's breakaway from the market and the traditions of creating advertising in that space at the time. It was sexy, it was product focused, it was shot close up and had production values never before seen in the surf market. This was in 1981, when the surf market was still coming out of its seventies hippy hangover. It was a watershed moment in the evolution of the brand.

No computers were used in the creation of the Computer campaign. This was the pre-digital age, pre-Illustrator and pre-Photoshop. We knew change was coming, but we had no idea in what form or how. All we knew was if we blew up the pixels that make up a photographic image we would create the effect of some futuristic technique and it would look like we were visionaries of some sort.

The SubCulture campaign was (and probably still is) the only youth culture advertising that addressed the politics of cool in the Southern California surf world and didn't rely on celebratory athletes to sell its products. Rather, it hoped to tribalize surfers by expressing a common social belief and attitude in a humorous way. Surfers have always prided themselves on their underground status; on the fact that their way of life was not bound by the rules and regulations of bat and ball sports, just the ocean and its mythology.

By the time the nineties were in swing, this underground status was under siege by crowds - hundreds of thousands of new surfers were in the surf everyday putting a serious question behind the notion of surfing being this cool exclusive thing. Every spot was packed and finding those uncrowded days was challenging. "If you don't surf don't start." "If you don't skate you don't relate." "Too many kooks." Subculture was advertising with a social message, and was one of Gotcha's most memorable campaigns.

The SubCulture campaign was (and probably still is) the only youth culture advertising that addressed the politics of cool in the Southern California surf world and didn't rely on celebratory athletes to sell its products. Rather, it hoped to tribalize surfers by expressing a common social belief and attitude in a humorous way. Surfers have always prided themselves on their underground status; on the fact that their way of life was not bound by the rules and regulations of bat and ball sports, just the ocean and its mythology.

By the time the nineties were in swing, this underground status was under siege by crowds - hundreds of thousands of new surfers were in the surf everyday putting a serious question behind the notion of surfing being this cool exclusive thing. Every spot was packed and finding those uncrowded days was challenging. "If you don't surf don't start." "If you don't skate you don't relate." "Too many kooks." Subculture was advertising with a social message, and was one of Gotcha's most memorable campaigns.

The SubCulture campaign was (and probably still is) the only youth culture advertising that addressed the politics of cool in the Southern California surf world and didn't rely on celebratory athletes to sell its products. Rather, it hoped to tribalize surfers by expressing a common social belief and attitude in a humorous way. Surfers have always prided themselves on their underground status; on the fact that their way of life was not bound by the rules and regulations of bat and ball sports, just the ocean and its mythology.

By the time the nineties were in swing, this underground status was under siege by crowds - hundreds of thousands of new surfers were in the surf everyday putting a serious question behind the notion of surfing being this cool exclusive thing. Every spot was packed and finding those uncrowded days was challenging. "If you don't surf don't start." "If you don't skate you don't relate." "Too many kooks." Subculture was advertising with a social message, and was one of Gotcha's most memorable campaigns.

The Trestles Campaign. Trestles is a group of quality surf spots in Southern California, just south of San Clemente. We used it as a staging area for many shoots, mainly because Gotcha had assembled a team of the world's elite surfers, and the only way to keep these guys focused on the task at hand was to shoot them in a place they could relate to, where they were in their element. Shot tight, with no set up. Just the photographer capturing the interaction in real time letting the surfers do their thing.

The Blue Cool campaign. We were looking for a design strategy that didn't preclude the idea of showcasing the talents of our formidable surf team. We wanted to show surf action shots but we didn't want the ads to follow the cliched industry formula of action shot with brand logo attached. We needed a prism through which the action could be viewed that gave it an identity separate from the competition. We found it in the album covers of Blue Note records from the sixties and seventies. Gotcha received numerous design awards for this copy-driven, graphic-heavy campaign.

2017 PRESS: Celebrity

Featured Brands: Gotcha

Urban Outfitters Blog

Since its start in 1978, Laguna Beach-based Gotcha evolved into one of the most influential surf brands of all time. In honor of our collection of throwback Gotcha pieces in collaboration with Icons of Culture, we take a look back at the brand's legacy with an interview with brand founder Michael Tomson.

PLAID BERMUDAS

Every brand finds its original success in an item, a particular style that takes off and drives the brand's momentum. For Gotcha, it was the plaid bermuda. It started off as pure satire - kids in Laguna Beach (the brand's home) were taking plaid pants bought at local thrift stores, or hand-me-downs from old retirees living in Palm Springs, then cutting the legs and wearing them as shorts. And they were wearing them long - to the knees. The minute we put them in the line they sold out. And then sold out again. A trend was born and it wasn't just about the plaids, it was about the longer length. Up until then, the lengths of shorts were mid thigh. Our plaid bermuda fell just above the knee. Shorts have stayed around knee level ever since.

COLOR BLOCKED BOARDSHORTS

Gotcha’s first foray into surf trunks was constrained by the fact it cost too much to have them printed. Prints require a minimum yardage and we would never sell enough to cover that minimum. So we made them solid, using different colors in the geometric panels referencing a new wave influence that was beginning to show up in music.

UTILITY BOARDSHORTS

In 1982 and 1983, we introduced the Utility, the first ever stretch boardshort in the surf market. It's hard to imagine, but back then performance fabrics with stretch capability were unheard of - we thought it would introduce a whole new dimension to the market, which of course it did. Another feature of the Utility was the engineered waistband, which sat lower on the front than the back and made for an excellent fit.

STRIPES

In the early 80s, Gotcha introduced horizontal stripes in knits and fleece. We got the idea of a repeat stripe in black and white from 50's TV shows like Leave it to Beaver. It started as a short sleeve knit shirt in 2 colors and evolved to every permutation of stripe imaginable across every category of apparel.

PHOTO IMAGE PRINTING

If Gotcha were to be recognized for a single design innovation, it would have to be introducing the long short to the market. Right behind that would be engineering photographic images into the design of a garment. Today using photography as part of a print is so ubiquitous, it is almost hard to imagine there was a time when brands never did that.

RHYTHM DIVISION

Rhythm Division was an important capsule for Gotcha. We were coming out of 4 years of incredible sales of plaid bermudas, but by now everyone had a pair and we knew we had to get out. But we couldn’t get out without having something new to put in. We thought Rhythm Division sounded cool and reflected the reggae and ethnic inspired designs.

FROM SURF TO SPORTSWEAR

From the get go, it was Gotcha's mission to bring fashion into the surf space and to do so with unbridled irreverence. Gotcha was experimental, innovating at a furious pace and continuously developing new fabrics. Our commitment to innovation inspired a lot of our competitors.

LIGHTWEIGHT OUTERWEAR

One of Gotcha's biggest sportswear innovations was a category called Rearguards, an alternative to fleece sweatshirts. We took a medium weight twill, cut it in a fleece silhouette, stonewashed it to create an aged appearance and a hot item was born.

1978

880 Park Avenue in Laguna Beach California, an unassuming 1 bedroom, 1 bath beach cottage that served as a launch pad for Gotcha.

1980

1981

Gotcha's first major ad campaign brought professional photography and art direction into the surf space.

It was also the year the brand introduced the Utility boardshort, a technical board short that sold on a platform of design features such as the shaped waistband, red closure snaps, triple seamed stitching at stress points, and in its second iteration, the first stretch fabric.

1982

The company introduced its first printed boardshorts called Kowabunga, which were retro inspired prints with marks drawn from the Leave it to Beaver era TV show. The ads were illustrated to look as though they came from the same fifties style.

1989

Gotcha launches MCD (The More Core Division), a sub brand of Gotcha. MCD was the absolute antithesis of Gotcha: where Gotcha was bright, MCD was dark; where Gotcha sold department stores, MCD was strictly surf shops. Whereas Gotcha was designed for popularity, MCD was designed for exclusivity.

1993

1994

The Blue Cool catalog is produced, drawing its inspiration from Blue Note records and jazz album covers of the sixties and seventies. The catalog receives numerous design awards.

1995

Gotcha sponsors the Lacanau Pro, a pro tour event in France.

1997 / 1998

Gotcha brings pro surfing to Tahiti, hosting an event at Teahopuu, a death defying reef on the main island of Tahiti. The surf world is shocked by images of huge waves exploding on a shallow reef, and the event quickly becomes one of the premier venues on the world tour. In the second year, the waves are so powerful, the scaffolding supporting the judges and event officials is swept away overnight, creating a dilemma over how the judges would be able to see the competitors in the surf.

1998

Gotcha expands to Canada.

1999

The Gotcha Pro moves venue for the 3rd time; this time to Huntington Beach in California.

2003

Gotcha expands to Peru.

2006

Perry Ellis International acquires Gotcha.

2009

Gotcha expands to Argentina and Panama.

2015

Gotcha expands to the UK and China.

2017

Gotcha collaborates with Icons of Culture to launch a special collection at Urban Outfitters.

Welcome To The Site

We have some announcements, we like to make. We have stickers now. We heard your calls and we are giving out stickers. Please shoot us a email to "contact@cs.gotcha.com". Also, we have some cool new gear to showcase.